5 year reunion

picture from my five year college reunion picnic! we made the trip up to visit family friends as well as join in the reunion festivities and show Luke around Santa Clara. More pictures to come soon...

(a side note - i don't like how my belly looks in this pic - i've worked so hard for it to look good again and this camera angle did me no justice!!)

pictures from Memorial Day weekend

Luke's first visit from his great grandmother, a great aunt, and a cousin


my Godmother, me, and Luke

Four generations!! Luke, me, my dad, my dad's mom

the proud father showing off his son

Luke & Nonno (grandfather in Italian)

man of the cloth

Luke has officially been a man of the cloth (diaper that is!) for six weeks now!! I started cloth diapering when he was four weeks old and he is ten weeks now!!! amazing!! i think six weeks is the litmus test for many things, so I guess we are passing the cloth diaper test!! yippee!! more on this later - hopefully - right now, the little man needs a change :)

first of the season

my dear husband killed a rattlesnake outside our bedroom window.
yep - rattlesnake, our house, now dead.
and he did it with his shotgun - in his boxers, snake boots, and no shirt - very manly!!
anyone who asks why i primarily tend to stay inside the house during warm weather... this is why.

quick update

Luke turned 8 weeks old yesterday! (eight weeks!!?!?!?!) anyway, that meant a trip to the doctor for his first round of shots... it was not easy for mommy, but daddy was there to comfort both of us! (such a blessing that Greg comes with us!!!)
Luke took it like a champ and has done really well yesterday and today, recovering from 5 shots! he's such a good baby!
So, the vital statistics: Luke now has a head circumference of 15 inches (13.75 at birth), he is now 22.25 inches long (19.5 at birth), and he weighs 11 pounds, 14 ounces (7 pounds, 10 ounces at birth)!! That means he has gained over four pounds in 8 weeks!! he has only had his mother's milk and we are both very proud of that accomplishment!!
alrighty, i have to go - both Luke and I need a bath/shower as he peed/pooped all over himself, me, the Boppy pillow, etc... during our last little feeding session... Gotta love it, I don't think I'll ever really be "clean" again - what with milk, spit up, and the previously mentioned diaper activities ... being a mommy is the best vocation ever, I absolutely treasure every minute of it!!!

New Pictures!!

Luke is six weeks old!!

wow, six weeks have come and gone... we fall more in love with Luke every day!! he's doing very well - a champion nurser and extremely intelligent already :) he holds his head up, loves to be with either mommy or daddy, and doesn't like to sleep too long at a time

here is proud daddy Greg with his friend, smoking cigars in honor of Luke's birth

not that great of a picture of Luke... he must have eaten too much salad - hahaha - not very funny... he's never had anything other than his mother's milk!!

how to startle a newborn:

blow your nose (slightly abruptly) while nursing...

yeah, he doesn't really like that
:)

new pics

three generations - Luke, me, & my mom



mommy & baby


proud grandmother - we might call her Nana

Luke is full and happy after nursing!

Blessing

Our little family gets a blessing from the priest

Baptism

Luke Joseph is baptized today March 30th
He is welcomed into the Christian community officially today as a Catholic!!
Here is Luke with his proud parents, the priest, and his Godparents

(the priest who baptized Luke is the same priest who married Greg and I)

Baptism

Luke getting dressed in his baptism gown - its over 60 years old - its been worn by lots of relatives on Sarina's side of the family!!

Luke with his Godparents - Greg's sister and brother-in-law

The priest is baptizing Luke over the font

Luke receives the Blessed Sacrament

Luke!

our little miracle

story to follow... but just to let you know...
Luke Joseph Bronson was born March 13, 2008 at 4:26pm
7 pounds 10 ounces, 19.5 inches long
mom and baby are doing great

"nursery"

many people have asked if we have the "nursery" ready yet... my dear husband and i always look at each other with kind of a blank stare and say "um, yeah" i apologize to anyone who may be offended, but we just don't feel the need to stencil the walls or pick a "theme" or anything like that for the room that our kids will be in... we call it the kids' room (kids plural - that's right) because we plan on it being the room that our kids will sleep in - until space runs out in that room and we need to put some in another room... seriously i think it's great to share a room with your siblings - i did it with my brother and all of Greg's siblings did it.

anyway, since we have been asked... here are pictures of the kids' room as it is now... we've got a bunk bed and a crib in there now, so there is already plenty of space for little ones!! :)

here's the crib - its wood and really nice - an awesome hand-me-down from my dad's cousin

these are the quilts my mom sewed - on the left is the crib quilt (noah's ark fabric) and on the right is the reading quilt (with pictures of our favorite children's books!!)

the bookshelf is between the crib and the door - right now it has kids' books on the top and bottom shelves and random books in the middle... the picture in the picture frame is the one it came with - i don't know who's baby that is... the silver piggie bank is from my great aunt and the baby's silver cup is from the baby's great grandmother

this is an old closet picture - i have some hanging closet organizers now which hold all the onesies/t-shirts/gowns/sleepers, etc... it works quite well

This is a dark picture, but it will give you an idea -- this is from the door, looking into the room, the bookshelf is directly to the right, then the crib, then the bunk bed, then the window to the left of the bunk bed and the closet is to the left of the window...

baby-related pictures & update

**update** today is our due date - we went to the doctor yesterday - i am 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced and the baby is -1 station -- basically everything is going very well - it's just not quite time yet! i measured around 39 cm and the baby's heartbeat is very strong

here are some pictures of us getting stuff ready...
my dear husband really likes our front carrier!! he wanted a doll or something to practice with - all i could find was pooh-bear :)

aren't these cloth diapers adorable!!! (ignore the bottom of the drying rack with my shirts and nylons)

here's the travel bassinet/changing table/ play pen that my aunts gave us at our baby shower!

This is our bedroom with the bassinet set next to the bed as it will be. its one of those arms*reach co*sleepers ... we are very excited about this (thanks mom & dad!)

the bassinet as it looks away from the bed ... we wanted something with not too many frills or extra fabric (i'm even taking off some of it still) because of the fact that we have scorpions and other creatures that like to hide in areas like that!

**don't forget to guess the baby's arrival date, a couple of posts down!!**

at my mom's request...

... here are some "belly pictures" from about a week and a half ago


(i have no idea what i am looking at in this picture!!)

let's play a fun game...

the game is called: when will our baby come?

here's how you can play --
leave a comment here with your guess including:

what day will the baby be born?
what time will the baby be born?

if you want, you can include a guess for:

will the baby be a boy or a girl?
how much will the baby weigh?
how long will the baby be?

*** i think i might offer some sort of little prize to whoever makes the closest guess... not sure what the little prize will be or when i will get it to you, but... it just sounds like fun :) ***

here's some info if it helps: i am measuring either a little small or right-on at every doctors appointment, i have gained about 20 lbs, the baby is due March 7th - so we're in our 40th week, i was 7 lbs, 5oz. when i was born and my dear husband was about 9 1/2 lbs!, i've had three dreams that we had the baby - twice it was a boy and once it was a girl, i haven't have my cervix checked - so no info about dilation yet...

beautiful weather

**update ** its over 73 degrees!!


its almost 72 degrees and sunny!!
we have all the windows open and its absolutely wonderful!!
the hills are covered with green grass and wildflowers are starting to blossom, the birds are chirping, and the buckeye trees are blooming!!
gotta love February in California!!

SINGLE DIGITS!!

nine days til our due date!!
i'm feeling great - i walked over 30 mins today and my co-workers say that the baby hasn't dropped yet.
we've got a doctor's visit tomorrow afternoon...